Near to Falling
by Matriaya
Summary: Faced with what seems like certain death, Wendy finds a heated way to say goodbye to the Middleman.


**Title:** Near to Falling  
**Author:** Phantmgreeneyes  
**Rating: **PG  
**Summary:** Faced with what seems like certain death, Wendy finds a heated way to say goodbye to the Middleman.  
**Notes: **Written for **luna_dove** 's _Twilight_ quotes challenge.

* * *

Wendy Watson took another step backwards, just inches away now from the edge of the cliff. Below the lip of rock, a mile wide stream of lava stretched below, waiting to swallow up her small frame in waves of fire. The enemy had them cornered. Twelve incredibly bulky men with whips that lashed out flames stood in a line before her - blocking the way between herself and the freedom that lay beyond.

Her only comfort stood beside her - her partner, her friend, her Middleman.  
"This seems to be a tricky predicament we've landed ourselves in, Dubbie." he spoke cheerfully. "What I wouldn't give for a self-creating bridge gun."  
Wendy shot him a look that clearly read _"You're nuts _."Never before him had she met a man who could smile in the face of certain death quite like he could. The heat swirling up from the lava stream was intense, and it only served to make her dizzy and drowsy when her senses should have been sharp. If there were a way to get out of this...  
Her eyes made a quick scan of their surroundings once more, searching in vain for a final escape route undiscovered. The head of the Gang of the Everlasting Fire Whip took note of her scroungings and grinned, revealing a mouth full of chipped teeth.

"Don't bother, _querida,_ you're out of luck." The smirk in his eyes shifted red with lust, and he licked his lips. "You could always come over to our side." He continued. "We could use a sweet thing to keep us warm at night."  
The Middleman's face hardened, eyes turning to steel.  
"You will keep your vulgar thoughts of Wendy to yourself, De Rodas." he growled.  
His hand automatically moved to his gun holster, but his fingers grasped at nothing. The prized pulse pistol he'd cherished for so many years now lay at the bottom of the lava stream.

In contrast to the Middleman's order, De Rodas puckered his lips and kissed the air in Wendy's direction.  
"You always let this man talk for you?" he asked Wendy. Wendy smirked.  
"Go [BLEEP] yourself." was her simple reply.  
Rage overtook lust once more, and De Rodas unhooked the whip from his belt. he cracked it once, and flames danced down it's length. The remaining eleven men took this as their cue to follow, and soon twelve flaming whips loomed too close to Wendy for comfort.  
"Say your goodbyes now whore, and prepare to burn." he growled.

Wendy was sure the next second would usher in flames wrapping around her entire body, which is why she was thoroughly surprised when De Rodas actually waited, staring expectantly at her. Bad guys never ceased to shock her.  
How was she supposed to say goodbye to one of her very best friends in just a few words? What phrases could possibly sum up all their experiences, her feelings?  
"Well boss," she looked regretfully at the Middleman. He smiled down at her, calm and collected as ever, but pride shined in his eyes. He reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
"You were fantastic, Wendy Watson." he murmured softly, his thumb stroking her shoulder through the damp fabric of her shirt.

That small, intimate movement is what drove her over the edge. Just the gentle touch of the man she admired, and something within her broke. Proceeded by no tears, a sob tore from her throat, and she launched forward, gripping the back of his neck with tight fingers, and planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth.  
It was a kiss of desperation, of emotions unreckoned and words unspoken. Despite the heat that blasted them from all sides, she felt impossibly cold, and his skin against hers burned a whole new fire down her body. His other hand moved up and clutched her other shoulder, long fingers digging into her upper arms.  
The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds, but it felt like hours before she tore her lips away from his with a small whimper and stared up into his eyes. It was heaven, right smack in the middle of hell.

She'd laid it all out on the table, and she seriously hoped his last words to her wouldn't be those of rejection.  
She found shock and surprise there. He licked their mingled sweat off his lips slowly, studying her face as he did. She became intensely uncomfortable then - this was not the reaction she was hoping for. He wasn't flat out refusing her, which was a plus, but the potency that overtook the mask of his features didn't match up at all with his normal and friendly Middleman demeanor.

Together they turned back to face their executioners, but the Middleman inched them ever so slowly backwards until Wendy's heels were over the edge of the cliff.  
"Say goodnight." De Rodas smirked, and all twelve men raised up their whips. Flame danced hypnotically, filling up her field of vision as the ropes descended towards her. There was a sudden tug on her hand, and Wendy lost her footing. The giddy sensation of free-falling twisted about her stomach for a moment as she and the Middleman plunged towards a molten death, and then...

Rock. They landed on rock.  
What the hell?  
Wendy didn't even dare open her eyes for a long moment as her fingers felt the ground she'd landed on. It was hot, but it was definitely solid, and her skin hadn't burst into flames, so...  
When she finally did open her eyes, she was greeted by the Middleman's hulking frame, looming over her with one hand outstretched to help her up.  
They were on a rock outcropping, fifteen feet below the cliff's edge. A tunnel, just barely large enough to stand in, grinned at them from the cliff face. Shaken and confused, Wendy reached up and grasped the Middleman's hand, allowing him to haul her to her feet.

"There is always a Plan D, Dubbie." he told her earnestly. She took a moment to process this. He'd known. All along, he'd known that they weren't about to die, and yet he let her...  
If Wendy's cheeks weren't already so red from the heat of the lava, she would have blushed furiously then. Embarrassment seized up her brain, and she dropped the Middleman's hand as if it were ice. Without another word, she grabbed the flashlight off her belt and hightailed it down the unknown tunnel, eager to get as far away from her boss as humanly possible.

The Middleman lingered behind for a moment, staring after his apprentice with a ridiculous grin on his face.

_Comments are love! _


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